Trike tilt ring assembly partial build

The previous post in the "Meanderer" custom leaning full-suspension tadpole trike prototype #2 project, shows preliminary construction of the tilting mechanism:

• Starting steelwork for custom trike #2 — September 09, 2025

Today have taken it a few steps further. Here are the 10mm-thick blocks welded onto the 40x40 mm backbone:

...note that the two top blocks are in-between the bottom blocks. This is important, as it allows the rings, that can be seen at the top of the photo, to slide over the backbone and navigate down to the middle. Here are side dimensions:

The 12mm stainless steel rod is welded to the rings, and here it is sitting in place on the blocks:

...by turning the rings 45 degrees, it can be navigated along the backbone, so can be removed if required.

The bottom swing-arms hinge on the 12mm rod. As they hinge on the same rod, co-centric, they need to be wider on one side. I used 20x5 mm mild steel strap, bent like this, firstly, the wide one:

And here is the narrow swing-arm:

A 3D view:

...what I did was draw those dimensions onto graph paper, as a guide for bending the strap in a vice. The left side is a 12mm diameter hole and three layers of 5mm strap, giving 15mm. On the right side, drilled three 6mm holes, but that was just to leave my options open; might just weld the rest of the swing-arm.

Here is the almost-complete assembly, with the bottom swing-arms inserted into the 12mm rod and the whole assembly sitting in-place:

...doesn't look pretty!

To hold everything in place, I welded little flange-pipe-collars at each end, these things:

...they are stainless steel, got them off AliExpress. The large washers that are in the next-up photo, got those off AliExpress also. Let's see, yes, bought the flange-couplings from here:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006134667879.html

The washers are m12 stainless steel, 36mm OD, about 2mm thick. From here:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006748818413.html

Plan to construct a bit more tomorrow.    

Tags: light